Cozmo

Aaaaand I figured out WHY it was leaking. I didn't have the forward port of the carb seated fully in the boot on the cylinder head. I had about another half inch to go.

Thanks, everyone! I'm stoked to be here with ya.

Hi, everyone. It looks like my bike is leaking gas out of the airbox. I tried to do a search on this and didn't find anything (maybe I just don't yet understand how this forum functions). Here's the back story: I got this bike (I've named it Blue) from a friend. He had the carb tuned up at a shop and I put it in. Once it was fitted, I was able to sort of rotate the carb from side to side. It seemed loose to me, but the tightening bands on the carb boot and the airbox were as tight as I could get them. The tank is just a bit rusty, and the petcock lever seems pretty stiff. It has a fuel filter in it, but the hoses seem a bit stiff as well. I also bought a parts bike (which I call Red) with the intention of using the parts from it to fix the one my friend gave me. Red has a better gas tank (still has gas in it) and petcock. The hoses are much softer as well. So I pulled the gas tank off of Red, pinched off the fuel hose, and re-attached everything to the carb on Blue. Gas almost immediately started leaking out of the airbox (or at least it appears so). The petcock is on RES (it's a vacuum system, so I made sure it wasn't on PRI). The bike is in my back garden, and when I roll the front wheel into a depression (so the bike is pitched slightly forward) the leak stops. I also opened the gas tank to try and balance any potential vacuum there might have been there. So does this sound like I just didn't put the carb in properly, or would it maybe be a vacuum/seal problem? It seemed pretty straight forward to me...I just tried to do what the service manual says. Anyway, I know that's kind of a novella on my gas leak problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Cheers, Cozmo

Hi, Yamaha fans (although I'm sure most of you out there aren't too discriminatory towards any particular brand)! I'm Cozmo. I'm a new motorcyclist, but I've been fascinated by bikes for years. I've just now been able to afford a bike and the training to ride it well. I recently acquired a 1981 Yamaha SR 250 from a friend, and I've purchased a second bike for parts (though the parts I need from it are so minimal that I could realistically have two working bikes by the end of summer). This is my first motorcycle, as well as my first foray into bike repair and maintenance, so I'll definitely have some questions! I'd eventually like to get a bigger bike, like an older SR500 or XS650, or maybe a Kawasaki KZ750 or something. Anyway, I'm sure I'll have lots of questions, so thanks in advance for the help!